Sunday, October 25, 2015

Irish hockey team makes history - after 107 years

The Irish men's hockey team have qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics thanks to Australia's 3-2 victory over New Zealand in the Oceania Cup. Australia had already qualified for Rio and since only the winners would go through, it left one place open.
The team is the first Irish hockey team to compete at an Olympics since 1908 and the first Irish team from any sport to make an Olympics since 1948, when a football team qualified. After finishing a record high of fifth at the World League in Antwerp, the Irish were forced to wait three agonising months for the outcome of the remaining continental qualifiers before knowing that they had made it.
Ireland join Brazil, India, Germany, Canada, Spain, Belgium, Great Britain, Argentina, Netherlands, Australia and one remaining qualifier at the Rio '16 Games from August 5-21.